There is much that Aursra is just now discovering about her past, and as these things are discovered, her world is certain to turn upside down. To understand this true history, it is important that we delve deep into the past to a time prior to her birth …
We begin with her mother.
Melusine was a girl great of character. She was fair of face and pure of soul. When she was fifteen, she joined a special Order in her village because she showed great promise with magic. This group of women was both feared and revered because they all held the potential for great power. Some of the novices were not chosen to continue further on this path… the magic just seemed to stop working for them. Others, like Melusine, flourished, becoming more and more skilled.
In fact, it was widely thought that she would eventually take over as High Priestess for the Order, but she left it behind, opting to follow her heart instead. For you see, she had met a young man, a scholar with a sensitivity toward magic but lacking with the natural skill that she possessed. His name was Gwydion, and she left the Order to be with him.
She was content in this decision, but she was wrong in assuming that she would live a quiet life with her beloved. There was another man, powerful and wicked, who was feared by all who knew of him. He had long had his eye on Melusine because of her beauty and her own power. Then, there was the prophecy…
A seer told him that a union between the two of them would result in the awakening of great power. Corrupted by dark magics, he came upon her one night while Gwydion was away from their little cottage and savagely took her against her will. Weeks passed, and it was discovered that she had conceived a child. With great difficulty, she told Gwydion all that had happened, and afraid of what would come to pass if this man were to discover this, they fled to a land where magic was scarce and widely disbelieved.
To his credit, Gwydion handled it well. It was obvious at birth that the girl-child was not his. She seemed almost to pulse with a power too grand to be contained in her tiny body. Their departure had not gone unnoticed, and dark agents searched all of the known lands for them… for the key to the power promised by the seer. Three days after Aursra’s birth, one came upon them. Melusine gave her life to prevent the creature from reporting to its dark lord, but it was not without a price. She died that night, but with her dying breath, she was able to pass along enough of her magic to Gwydion so that he might protect her child.
Better at teaching than he was at using, Gwydion focused his energy in trying to teach the girl how to use this gift. Ironically, it was a rather mundane disease--or maybe it was the weight of the power gifted to him--that slowly claimed his life, causing his health to steadily dwindle over the course of a few years’ time. His last gift to the girl was to take away her magic, or rather bind it in such a way that she would not have its use until the right factors were reached to awaken it within her.
Little Aursra Blythe was a girl newly turned ten years old when her path crossed with that of Angelus Psalm Maximillian, who was but a few months her senior. Writing utensil in hand, the little girl couldn’t help but begin composing a description of the young angelic being. With his white feather wings, golden hair, those clear blue eyes, and perfectly modeled features, she just couldn’t help herself. Well, Angelus, being the friendly but sometimes shy sort, noticed how she watched him and after mustering some courage, approached her. They found out in an instant that they were ‘kindred spirits’ and became fast friends. Only, there was a catch…
Aursra was an orphan with no family and no home to speak of since the death of her father.
Angelus simply couldn’t have that. A natural-born protector, he refused to let the little girl with the dreamy hazel eyes and rich mahogany curls wander from place to place, cold and alone. So, he insisted on taking her to his home. What he didn’t bother telling her was that his home was actually a grand palace and that he was, in all truth, a prince of the land called Oneiro.
His mother, who Aursra was certain he had inherited his kind hearted ways from, offered her a place to stay without a second thought. Perhaps, Sorvynia had glimpsed a future for them that they, themselves, were too young and innocent to realize.
The two of them became inseparable. It was a rare occurrence to see one without the other. Aursra, a writer to the very core of her being—even at that age—and Angelus, a princely warrior-in-training, seemed to balance one another. She shared with him her most secret scribblings and he taught her that fighting wasn’t just for ugliness. Sometimes, it was necessary to restore the pretty things she was so fond of.
By the age of fourteen, they were both feeling unfamiliar flutterings when they saw one another. Embarrassed, they started spending a little less time together. That all changed, though, when Angelus found her bathing in the little cove that they thought only they knew about. Well, sort of…
The thing was, they were very much mistaken in this belief. Some ill-intentioned vagrants hiding in the forest of Oneiro had caught sight of her as well. With the slender curves of a girl just approaching womanhood, she seemed a sweet, vulnerable catch there all alone. Need I tell you that Angelus proved a force to be reckoned with when he saw his best friend in true danger? Fighting off the three of them well enough to, at least, escape; he carried a trembling Aursra back to the palace, shielding her nakedness with his wings.
Ever the gentleman, he turned his back while she slipped into some fresh clothing, and they finally talked about why they had been avoiding one another. They realized that their friendship was blossoming into something more.
Aursra was not quite eighteen when they were married, but she was a lovely bride. They both shared the conviction that the entire kingdom had seemed to have had for years: They had been destined to be together. There was only one problem. Aursra was human, and Angelus was, at least, half angel. He didn’t want to have to watch her grow old and die. So, with the help of his mother—who performed the wedding ceremony—he shared with his love, his life’s blood. The result of this being that they could spend near an eternity together.
They moved from the palace to live in a darling little cottage that Aursra had long been in love with. It was their own little “House of Dreams”, but the months that followed for them were riddled with hardship. A child was conceived. They were both so blissful in the knowledge that soon they would have a baby to show for their love. The swell of her belly had just started to show when the gods decided to rip away their happiness. The baby miscarried.
Blaming herself, thinking that she must have done something wrong, Aursra grew ill with grief, and it was months before she even left the haven of her cottage. Angelus stayed with her through it all, worried that he was going to lose her in addition to their child. In the end, it was the need of the villagers that restored the young woman to something better resembling her old self. Several of them came to her, begging her to come teach the children. There was no one more qualified… no one that was more trusted to nurture and educate the children of Oneiro.
She accepted the position and the pain in her heart lessened. She and Angelus even started talking about trying again. They were, after all, still quite young… they had nearly an eternity left together.
Then, there was the flash of blinding light that left everything in darkness. Oneiro was taken over by dark forces. Aursra woke, not remembering who or where she was, but she soon realized that Oneiro was no safe haven. Falling in with others who remembered her, she found herself with the survivors in a maze of underground caverns that they were now calling home. It was Angelus’ brother, Verial, who restored her memories.
After that, she eventually found Angelus. Things were going well. The two had plans to open up an orphanage in the land they found themselves in to help the underprivileged children they had met there. Unfortunately, Aursra wound up being discovered by her biological father... the man she had never even know existed. Lost in an illusioned world of his creation, the young woman's suppressed magic was released.
She has since managed to get away, but the simple writer of by-gone days is very much confused... The only thought on her mind is to find home, but she doesn't know what 'home' may be at this point. Nor does she have much of a grasp on these new found powers. It has taken strong tolls on both her body and spirit.
